Cub Scouts derby cars

[artcarney_agr]

What's all the tricks to build a winning car?

[Triton Eric]

3 wheels touching the ground, tilted in toward the car at the top so the run on the edge, polished axles, the weight as far back in the car as you can get it

[RonCat]

My son never went for speed, always went for originality. Built a small plexiglass tank on top one year and stuck a goldfish in it....

[SoonerFan]

Chuck the axels in your Dremel and polish with very fine emery cloth. Then put them in a baggie with graphite and let them soak for a couple of weeks.

Chuck the wheels in a drill press, if you have access to one, drill if you don't, and get them perfectly round. Round off the edges so they are running on a little surface area as possible.

Make sure your car is as heavy as it can be. Put as much weight forward as possible. We used the scales at the local post office for our weigh in.

My son won the Pinewood Derby every year he entered...three years in a row, with these tips.

[hatcreek]

Chuck the axels in your Dremel and polish with very fine emery cloth. Then put them in a baggie with graphite and let them soak for a couple of weeks.

Chuck the wheels in a drill press, if you have access to one, drill if you don't, and get them perfectly round. Round off the edges so they are running on a little surface area as possible.

Make sure your car is as heavy as it can be. Put as much weight forward as possible. We used the scales at the local post office for our weigh in.

My son won the Pinewood Derby every year he entered...three years in a row, with these tips.

Great tips above, but c'mon, now... everyone knows it's a "Dad-built" car competition.

...and I was just as guilty as the rest.

[DennisMH&F]

Luck! First year we had no idea what to do so we went for the best looking car prize. Hand carved it into a Formula-1 replica. Had the wood so thin that my son broke it on the way to the race. We hurriedly had to glue it back and it dried crooked. We only had 3 wheels touching the track and we were pretty embarrassed, until we won first place! Had all the veteran builders coming up asking how we built our car and where we learned to just put 3 wheels on the ground, never told them it was an accident. Won the next year too!

[basscat21]

Weight high in the rear, all the wheel mods above are spot on!

Weight high in back, means the weight is pushing the car longer on the incline since its in the back. I had 30-06 carriages in the back. Mine were misled after the SST land speed car of the 70s.

[Bradley Lane]

Put the weight at the very front of the car. Make sure you use all the weight that’s allowed. Also sand the nails that hold the wheels smooth. Oil or graphite the nails too. I won 1st place twice and 2nd and 3rd Place. Good luck

[greg88]

i have to agree with soonerfan on most points we did a mock up track and ran a number of cars took our fastest to the show

[lakefolk]

so which is it?? weight in the front or back?

so far cat is the only one with pics of trophies

[188Musky]

so which is it?? weight in the front or back?

so far cat is the only one with pics of trophies

Sure, but we don't know which end of the car he sent down the track first. This is getting confusing.

[Hookerz Tackle]

Had several people get assortment of big tungsten flipping weights from me to get the weight they needed in smallest footprint.

[Garage Dog]

There are paperback books available that will tell you all the speed secrets you would never think of. Special wheels, axels, lube, and a bunch of tips on how to distribute the weight. The first year I did it with my grandson we didn't know anything about it and just built with the stock stuff and called it good...we got smoked. Couldn't let that happen again. Got the book and got the good parts (which are legal) and he won easily.

[wildturkey]

Use oak on the front half and balsa on the back half. Paint very well.

[KellyJoe]

Sure, but we don't know which end of the car he sent down the track first. This is getting confusing.

Pull off the wheels = home wrecker.

[artcarney_agr]

so which is it?? weight in the front or back?

so far cat is the only one with pics of trophies

No kidding! Got two mindsets here.

I would think weight in the back puts its higher in elevation at the start, meaning more potential energy.

[basscat21]

Sure, but we don't know which end of the car he sent down the track first. This is getting confusing.

Read....then look at the middle car......

[basscat21]

No kidding! Got two mindsets here.

I would think weight in the back puts its higher in elevation at the start, meaning more potential energy.

Bingo........learned that at Ft Levenworth cub pack....took it to Syracuse....add won by car lengths.....

[AirForceAngler]

Polish the axles, smooth and polish the wheels. Get the weight as low as you can and closer to the rear axle than the front. If you can, try to get it to go straight on 3 wheels. For the last two I built, I actually ordered axles and tires prepolished off of eBay. Then I spent two nights in the recliner, spinning the wheels on the axles while adding dry graphite powder.

[Hank Purvis]

Great tips above, but c'mon, now... everyone knows it's a "Dad-built" car competition.

...and I was just as guilty as the rest.

We solved the problem one year when I was Cub Master. We made an agreement to let the boys build their cars and the dads had our own. Daddy derby was born for a small entry that went to the pack. This got very intense and was a blast!!!